The Daily Dispatch: January 29, 1861., [Electronic resource]

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Funeral of a King.

--The funeral of William IV., late King of Prussia, took place on the 9th inst., at Berlin. The military were mustered in immense numbers. On the coffin was a gold crown, a helmet, and other royal insignia. It was borne to the hearse by twelve colonels. The horses attached to the hearse were draped in black velvet. The church was lighted with hundreds of wax candles and filled with the nobility. An account of the scene says:

‘ When the coffin was conveyed into the church, the two Queens, the Grand Duchess Dowager of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Grand Duchess of Baden, and the Prussian princesses were in their places waiting to receive it: and when the King, the distinguished personages by whom his Majesty was accompanied, and the other participators in the procession had taken the places assigned them, it being then about one o'clock, the funeral ceremony was proceeded with. The choir of the cathedral first sang the 100th Psalm, and then the local choir sang a hymn. After this the Court chaplain, M. Heyd, said the Litany, and at its conclusion the Queen Dowager and the King mounted the dais, knelt before the coffin and prayed in silence for a few moments, which pious example was followed by the other chief mourners. About half-past 1 o'clock salvos of artillery, taken up by the troops in the streets without, and the tolling of the church bells, announced that the last blessing had been pronounced over the remains of the deceased monarch.

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